


You bent the knee. Not I.

by verati



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Angst, Dany arrives at Winterfell, F/M, Hurt, My girl Sansa is one tough cookie, S8 promo fic, Sansa Stark POV, She will overcome it all, feelings of betrayal, unreliable point of view
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-06 00:58:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17335652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verati/pseuds/verati
Summary: Daenerys Targaryen arrives at Winterfell. As Jon Snow embraces the Lady of Winterfell one word falls from his lips.“Please.”Sansa Stark should be used to betrayal by now. Naively, she thought he would never betray the North like this. Betrayherlike this.“Winterfell is yours, your grace.”





	You bent the knee. Not I.

**Author's Note:**

> In which Jon tries to let Sansa know he is playing the game of thrones with one word: “Please.” 
> 
> And Sansa misunderstands his meaning.
> 
>  
> 
> The short scene from the HBO promo inspired this little one shot. Written pretty quickly, here is one (of several possibilities) of what could be going through Sansa’s head.

Sansa’s eyes flick towards the woman who has taken the North’s sovereignty away. Littlefinger was right. She is beautiful. And powerful.

Then again so is Cersei. 

He whispers into the fur of Sansa’s cloak, “Please.”

Words are wind. And in winter the winds are unforgiving.

Jon’s arms fall away from her as he breaks their embrace. Their small moment of peace has come to an end. 

_Courtesy is a lady’s armour._ Sansa watches as the dragon queen makes her way across the courtyard towards them. Her fur coat is a blinding white with red that cuts through like blood seeping from a wound. Her boots imprint her mark on  Northern soil. By her side saunters an exiled bear in black fur. The men that stand guard around the perimeter look on in thinly veiled contempt. Sansa hears Brienne shift her weight from one foot to another.  _Courtesy is a lady’s armour. Courtesy is a lady’s armour._

The former King in the North turns to face the would be Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. 

_What do you want, Jon? “Please” what_ _?_ Daenerys Targaryen unclasps her hands and her lips form the shape of a smile. She is smiling at Jon and—

_Ah._

_Our sovereignty wasn’t taken. He_ gave _it to her._

_Willingly._

Sansa sees it all in the smile they share. She sees it in the way her cheeks redden at his attention.  _I am meant to please. That is what he wants from me. “_ _Please the queen, Sansa Stark. Please, please my queen.”_

_Please._ _Please._ _Please._ _Please._ _Please._

Sansa remembers how easily he dismissed her and her advice so many moons ago. She had wanted to say “please”, too. Please don’t leave. Please be careful.  _Please learn from Father and Robb. Please don’t fail me like they did and leave me to shoulder it all, alone._

_Please don’t hurt me._

_Still. Here I am, your Northern fool._

The Targaryen’s trek comes to an end and she comes to stand before Sansa. For all her emulation of Northern dress, up close, Sansa can see the false ease that the woman wears. When Jon goes to stand by his queen’s side her posture immediately changes; she seems more at ease and a boldness saturates the gaze she sends Sansa’s way. Jon returns his attention to Sansa. In his eyes she sees a request—nay, a demand. A demand only the Lady of Winterfell can fulfill.

Sansa should have known it would fall again to this. Her claim. That is all she is good for. _Used_ for. Sansa Stark, _Lady of Winterfell._  Black bile coats her tongue, and a knot in her throat makes it harder to breathe.

It reminds her of when Father used Ice to take Lady away from her.

_Father, Mother, Robb, Rickon. Too many Starks have died for us to die now...So why does our survival taste like treason?_

Sansa takes in a burning lungful of air through her nose. It is no longer clean and pure. It is tainted. In this moment Sansa Stark resents Jon Snow. In this moment she hears Lady howl at the wind.

_**You** were the one who bent the knee._

_Not I._

_**You** were the one who gave up your crown and our independence for a woman._

_Not I._

_**You** were the one who pledged our men to a war for the bloody Iron Throne._

_Not I._

_**You** forgot that there will be a time after the Night King is defeated, and the North will no longer kneel. _

_Not I._ _And yet—_

 

“Winterfell is yours,” Sansa’s eyes leave the ground to meet amethyst. “Your Grace.”

 

_—it is my lips, not yours, that form the shape of betrayal to the North. It is my voice, not yours, that the North hears as I take away their hope for independence. It is I, not you, that will have to bear it all._

Sansa feels the skin of her scars tighten then tear when the dragon queen nods in approval at her act of subservience.

_You are cruel, Jon Snow._

Daenerys Targaryen lifts her chin and takes in her fill of Winterfell.

Sansa is reminded of a time when she was a little bird. A little bird is less intimidating than a wolf. A little bird is overlooked and forgotten. A little bird can watch and plan. Perhaps it is time to pretend again.

Sansa slips into her coat of feathers and chirps her song into the winds of winter.

“Please, if you would follow me inside,” Sansa Stark looks concerned at the queen’s wind-chapped face. She offers the silver-haired beauty a demure smile. “Winter is here, your grace. I’m sure you’ll be more comfortable by a fire.”

Jon Snow avoids looking at Sansa as the queen and her retinue follow behind them into the keep. And why shouldn’t he? He has no need for a Lady of Winterfell now that he has a queen.

_You are cruel, Jon Snow._

Sansa smiles again at Jon’s queen like she once smiled at Prince Joffrey, her one true love. 

 

_Cruel._

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This version of Sansa is definitely more salty than I intended. But honestly? She has a right to be. After all she and Jon fought for, if she believes that Jon lost the North and didn’t learn from Robb’s mistakes, it must hurt her so much to have to be the one to welcome a new monarch after having fought so hard for Northern independence.
> 
> Any thoughts on Sansa in the new HBO promo? :)
> 
> Anyways, as always, thanks for reading!
> 
> ETA: I succumbed and made a tumblr to join the Jonsa fam!
> 
> [@carbonitekisses](https://carbonitekisses.tumblr.com)


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